Andy & I had already been married by our rabbi at Dor Hadash in San Diego on August 8, 2004, but we jumped at the chance to make our partnership legal in California the first Saturday they performed these civil marriages: June 21, 2008. We were married at about 5:30 PM by a deputy named Michael, whom I recognized from the gay community. My friend Paul took this video with my Canon G9 camera, my mom and Andy’s friend David were witnesses, and also present were my mom’s friend Honey and David’s boyfriend Rich. There was an assistant in the room as well.

At the time we were married, this file was too large to upload to YouTube, I didn’t have the software to facilitate closed-captioning it, and YouTube didn’t yet allow for captions to be uploaded to accompany videos. Now, a year later, “we have the technology” (to quote from the opening sequence of The Six Million Dollar Man), and I have the honor of reliving this moment and crying at the wonder of it all.

This is me and my husband Andy reacting to the final moment of President Barak Hussein Obama’s oath of office to become president of the United States of America. We were not able to watch it together until we both came home from work. Thank goodness for DVR! We were both ecstatic to see our nation’s first Democratic president in eight years — as well as our nation’s first black president — finally take office after such a long wait. I’d like to thank each person who made this possible, and God only knows who you all are. Thank you!!